State Politics Editor, The Sun-Herald

Allegations of ''jobs for the boys'' dogged the O'Farrell government in 2013, as ministers were grilled by the opposition and a scandal-hungry media over the appointment of former business mates to lucrative government boards.

But what about ''jobs for the girls''? Answer: There largely weren't any. Shock.

The Family and Community Services annual report, tabled in Parliament last month, showed no improvement in the number of women appointed to NSW government boards. This is despite election promises that a Coalition government would boost women to leadership positions.

Liberals believe in merit, not targets or quotas, when it comes to the gender balance hot potato. The reasoning seems sound: women would feel second-rate if they got a job because of a target rather than being the best candidate.

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The problem is, the merit approach doesn't appear to be working. There is famously just one female minister in the federal Coalition cabinet. The NSW government fares better with five women ministers. But only 16 per cent of Liberal and National MPs in the NSW lower house are women. And there was no change in the level of women on NSW government boards - stuck at 38 per cent, with key departments recording big falls since the O'Farrell government took office.

The ''jobs for the boys'' scandal highlighted some of the reasons why. Women don't seem to have the networks that have blokes selected on merit by other blokes who mix in the same business circles.

Gender targets have been shown to get faster results because they focus decision-makers on the need to include people outside the usual circles who have something valuable to contribute.

Laudable attempts have been made by Minister for Women Pru Goward to make the merit system work - getting the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Women on Boards involved in increasing the pool of board-ready women. But it's not working. Perhaps there is another factor at play. Some of the blokes simply don't see the merit in having more women on board. Despite the noisy public debate on how to best crack the glass ceiling, could it be that some men still don't see a problem with men making decisions for women? Or a majority of men deciding for a community where 50 per cent of voters and consumers are women?

The foetal rights bill Zoe's Law sparked a heated debate about whether legal recognition of a 20-week-old foetus as a living person could limit access to abortion. Its sponsor, Central Coast Liberal MP Chris Spence, ran an admirable campaign on behalf of his constituent Brodie Donegan, who lost baby Zoe after being hit by a drug-affected driver. But women's groups strongly opposed the bill. As the vote was taken in the lower house to pass the bill, Spence launched a vehement attack on women, including this columnist, who had highlighted that less than one-quarter of MPs voting on it were women.

''I consider it impertinent to suggest that this Parliament could not represent women, and their interests and concerns, simply because women do not hold a majority in this place,'' Spence said.

''Hear, hear,'' came the boom around the chamber.

Female MPs who dropped into my office were close to tearing their hair out. ''They just don't get it!''

The best people to represent the complex views of women, are women themselves. A majority of female cabinet ministers voted against Zoe's Law, while women MPs were evenly split.

In the absence of female ministers prepared to lobby for the bill, Liberal conservatives had battled for votes in the backrooms by telling wavering MPs the popular women's website Mamamia supported Zoe's Law. Ergo, ''women'' want it, said the blokes.

Mamamia founder Mia Freedman had indeed tweeted her support as she posted an opinion piece by Ms Donegan. But on the day of the vote, Mamamia published a ''cheat sheet to Zoe's Law'', strongly opposing the bill, written by a female lawyer.

''We felt that it was important for our readers to hear both sides of the debate on this important issue,'' says Mamamia editor Jamila Rizvi. So, Mamamia was reflecting a range of opinions.

Instead of second-guessing what women think, and verballing blogger websites, the NSW Liberal Party would do better if it just got on with appointing more women as decision-makers - both in Parliament and on boards.